Morro Bay is moving to repair their harbor after winter storm damage.
The City said they’re facing 20 million dollars in damage. Winter rain filled Morro Creek several times this year, causing water to spill out and flood the area. High winds also damaged the City’s harbor dock.
With this in mind, Morro Bay’s City Council unanimously approved $80,000 in emergency funding last week to repair the dock.
Ted Schiafone is Morro Bay’s Harbor Director. At the last City Council meeting, Schiafone told council members these repairs are his highest priority.
“The primary responsibility for the harbor is going to ensure that the Waterfront and the harbor is safe to the general public into the boating public,” Schiafone said.
One of the hardest hit areas of the harbor are where commercial fishers dock their boats.
The wood in the harbor's docks were already warped before this year’s storms, hung together by old pieces of rope in multiple areas.
With the approved emergency funds, the city plans to repair six docks that support commercial fishing vessels as well as a shorter, narrow dock called a finger dock.
Schiafone said the next steps are to finish assessing all the damage, and to hire a company to carry out the repairs.
“Staff is going to go back through the harbor and look for any damage to vessels again, looking for moreings that may have broke, loose debris that might be floating, remove that from the harbor,” Schiafone said.
Also, President Biden approved another Major Disaster Declaration for California yesterday, opening up select counties to federal aid. The declaration does not include San Luis Obispo County right now, but FEMA said more counties could be added to the list and be eligible for more assistance.
The County said they are waiting to hear back from the state to see if more federal aid is coming. That could mean more money for infrastructure repairs like the Morro Bay harbor.
More information is on the city’s website, morrobayca.gov.
